László Andor, Member of the Commission. - Madam President, on behalf of the Commission it is indeed a great pleasure to be given this opportunity to discuss this proposal today. This proposal for a directive is the result of excellent work at all levels. The Commission appreciates the contributions of the institutions and believes that the final text reflects the common objective of protecting the health and safety of workers in Europe.

This collaborative approach allowed an agreement with the Council at first reading. The rapporteur of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs worked in close cooperation with the Council in order to bring to the table today a common agreed text that seeks to guarantee a continuation of the high level of protection of workers from possible risks due to exposure to chemicals at the workplace. The improvements to the proposal, which were agreed during the negotiations, result in a text which is not only clearer from a legal perspective but also simpler to understand. This will make a significant and positive contribution in facilitating transposition and implementation at national level, thereby improving the protection of workers’ health and safety.

The need for this directive follows on from the adoption of a new system within the EU for chemical classification packaging and labelling. This new system was adopted in 2008 and will progressively come into force over the next few years. This new system implements the United Nations’ globally harmonised system of classification and labelling of chemicals within the European Union. This directive not only ensures a high level of workers’ health and safety but also makes a significant and positive contribution to the more global approach to the terminology used in chemical regulation. As such, this is a welcome contribution to improving the common understanding on chemical risk-management issues, not only in the EU but also with our key trading partners across the world.

To support this initiative the Commission has published a range of guidance material. This will assist employers and workers in managing the practical reality of the transition from the pre-existing to the new system for chemical packaging and labelling. This guidance is available free of charge via the Commission’s website. It was of course developed in consultation with our tripartite stakeholders.

Marian Harkin, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Madam President, I want to thank the rapporteur for her pragmatic approach to this legislation. I think what we are doing here is enhancing health and safety regulations for workers. We in Europe adopted the UN globally harmonised system of classification and labelling of chemicals in 2005. That is important for the health and safety of workers both at an EU level and indeed at a global level.

Currently we have five directives on health and safety which still use the old references to the old EU classification system. Therefore they needed to be aligned to the new legislation and that is what we have done. We have updated the references and the terminology to reflect the new system that we are now using.

I am fully in agreement with the list of vulnerable workers that we have added to the list. The rapporteur listed them; young workers, pregnant workers, etc. I also fully agree with the recommendation that explanatory guidelines and guidance be available to SMEs.

Finally, while no additional requirements were imposed, we have made it clear that the health and safety of workers is not a constraint on business but is in fact a fundamental right.

László Andor, Member of the Commission. - Madam President, honourable Members, thank you for these comments and feedback. The Commission is now looking forward to the adoption of the proposal by the Council and publication of the directive in the Official Journal.

I am convinced that this is an important contribution to the protection of EU workers at the workplace. Indeed as Mr Christensen said, the role of the social partners is very important; it has been and it continues to be. To Mr Niculescu, let me just say that, although it is important to highlight the role of specific sectors, normally the question in the legislation is how we deal with particular types of risk irrespective of the economic sector. So when we are dealing with exposure to electromagnetic fields for example, this has to be considered irrespective of whether the sector is transport or manufacturing, and so on. I agree with Ms Harkin that we need to have a specific focus on SMEs. We have to help SMEs comply with legislation without excessive burdens on them.

I am sure that what we have heard today will help the Commission in further work in the area of occupational health and safety.